But what is the show’s staying power on a new night and timeslot – Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET – and a revamped production style that has more of a documentary type feel than the shock value of season’s past?

We’re only two episodes into the TUF 17 season, but the early returns are good. The second week of the series held strong at 1.3 million viewers in the follow-up to last week’s two-hour season premier.

The second week followed suit to past seasons, showing a minor dip from the premier.

The proof of improvement due to the changes to the series production value and timeslot won’t come to light until we’re several weeks in. Compared to the first two seasons on FX, which struggled to hover around the one million viewers per episode mark in Season 15, and fell even lower for Season 16, TUF 17 is already a resounding success.

The ‘production changes’ are downright horrible in terms of camera work. I almost can’t watch it, and my stop watching because of it. First, they have slowed down the frame rate for the fights, that is what causes the blurring. Why would anyone, ever, slow the frame rate for a sporting event? They have played with the hue and lighting, which is why somethings appear unnaturally bright, and others so dark you can’t see enough. Finally for ‘artistic effect’ the constant quick zooming of the camera is irritating and amateurish.

I don’t mind the documentary style, but the camera effects is ruining the show.

El Gvapo

I dunno, I’m quite enjoying it. I think it’s just because it’s different from the past god knows how many seasons. I don’t really know anything about camera effects and techniques though but it seems to work.